Breast Cancer Screening and Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY)

Abstract

In recent years, the trend of the breast cancer screening has raised that is assisting the women and the health care practitioners to detect the breast cancer at the early stage. The analysis of the research study has shown that breast cancer screening has positive association with that of quality adjusted life year. The women who get screened for breast cancer have better quality of life in the later years as compared to the women who do not get screening. The reason is that the women who get screened for breast cancer are able to have early treatment before the disease gets mature, whereas the women who do not get screening have to suffer severely if their undiagnosed breast cancer disease gets mature. The negative impacts of breast cancer screening are also identified such as the over diagnosis that negatively impact quality of life.

Breast Cancer Screening and Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY) Introduction

The breast cancer is the most common disease that is found in most of the women all around the world. According to Breastcancer.org (2013), in United States, approximately 1 in 8 women will have persistent breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. Breast cancer is one of the major factors behind the increased mortality rate of women in the United States. The chances of dying from breast cancer are about 1 in 36 women. The chances of mortality increase in the cases where the disease is diagnosed in the later stages. The early detection of the breast cancer can save the lives of women and thus can improve the quality of life in the later years. Various medical approaches are being used by the health care specialists in the cancer area in order to detect the breast cancer at the early stages so that the early treatments can be given to the patients. The breast cancer screening is the modern medical approach that is being to detect the breast cancer at the early stage. The breast cancer screening is the medical test in which the thorough examination of the breast is carried out so as to find out the presence of the cancer.

In recent years, the research studies have found that breast cancer death rates are going down and this is the result of the earlier detection and the treatment of the breast cancer. At present, the rate of cancer survivors in the United States has increased as compared to previous years. Thus, the breast cancer screening is having positive and significant impact upon the patients of the breast cancer and their quality adjusted life year (QALY). The following section aims at discussing the literature review regarding the breast cancer screening and quality adjusted life year. It will be discussed in detail that how is the quality of life for individuals who get screened for breast cancer as compared to the individuals who do not get breast cancer screening.

Definitional terms

The following are the terms that will be used ...